Common Cherry

Cerasus communis var., Common Cherry known as La Grosse.

In the 19th century, growers in the Paris region referred to several varieties as "Common Cherry," distinguishing them less by their botanical characteristics than by their successive ripening periods.

This commercial logic allowed them to supply the capital's markets for three consecutive months. Among these varieties, 'La Grosse' was mainly cultivated in Sceaux, Fontenay-aux-Roses, Châtenay, and Verrières, alongside its cousin 'La Madeleine'.

La Grosse is an early cherry, as large as the famous Montmorency, but much more generous in yield.

The tree produces an abundance of fruit every year, making it a popular variety among producers speculating on Parisian markets.

It is distinguished by a stem generally shorter than that of La Madeleine and by a slightly earlier ripening. Only the trained eyes of merchants could recognize it among the profusion of common cherries that cluttered the stalls of the season.

Poiteau describes it as a "beautiful and good cherry," testifying to its gustatory and aesthetic qualities.

This plate is taken from Poiteau and Turpin's Traité des Arbres Fruitiers, a botanical encyclopedia published between 1807 and 1835, a major reference in 19th-century naturalistic illustration. It combines the rigor of scientific drawing with a rare artistic sensibility, characteristic of the great plates from the golden age of illustrated botany.